White Blur
by steepedinshadows419
Summary: Barry & Iris's seven year old twins are kidnapped by two new metahumans. Colorless speedsters who also happen to be robbers.
1. Part 1

**A/N:** Too many multichaps popping up at once, I know. I have one more coming. After that, only oneshots and updates to current multichaps will be posted, at least until I finish a couple. This particular story was unplanned as a separate piece. It was initially a prompt for my _Drabbles_ ongoing fic (requested by _Bluedog270_ ). However, it was getting lengthy, so I decided I needed to make it a two-parter. That, a friend of mine told me, disqualified it from being a drabble. Lol.

 ***** Many thanks to **withaflashoflove** on tumblr for giving this a look over. Always a pleasure to have someone so talented give my fic her stamp of approval. ;)

 ***** I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

"We've got another two-person operation," Cisco said as he pulled up footage from the many simultaneous robberies taking place all over the city.

"Where are we with the Snarts and Rory?" Barry asked, approaching the screens and studying the evidence intently.

Cisco shook his head, but Caitlin was the one who answered.

"Leonard and Rory have have been MIA for years."

"Lisa isn't in the city either, I checked."

Both Barry and Caitlin turned to look at Cisco with raised eyebrows and amused glances.

"Through advanced computer software designed to track down criminals and missing persons is how I know this," he defended. "We don't like…text and stuff," he muttered under his breath.

The smiles that started to spread across his friends' faces made him push forward. "Besides, these two are definitely metahumans. I think there's a good chance they could be speedsters too."

Barry's face fell. He turned back to look at the screens. Dread began to fill him at the possibility of another speedster supervillain attacking the city. When a metahuman wasn't conquered under a couple days, even the people at STAR Labs started to panic. Barry couldn't afford to lose another person in his life, especially now since—

"There he goes, there he goes!" Cisco interrupted Barry's thoughts as new live footage showed the unknown villains zipping across Central City.

"There's no color," Barry noted of the supposed speedsters zooming across the screen.

"Well, to be fair, the feeds are in black and white…" She ignored the minor glare from Barry and Cisco. "But ideally, there wouldbe a lighter or darker tint that would suggest a color, if there was one. If they had a red, yellow, blue…or other color, there would be some evidence of it."

"That's why you're not sure if they're speedsters."

Cisco and Caitlin shared a look.

"That's why we – well, _I_ – think this might be another Peek-a-Boo."

Barry's lips twisted in a grimace.

"Not much better, we know," Cisco said. "But—"

"Better than a speedster," Barry finished his thought. There was a lingering silence. "How do we know for sure?" he asked.

"You can't without getting up close," Iris said, strutting into the lab.

"Then that's what I'll do," Barry said, meeting her eyes and her eyes only.

"Whoa, whoa, what's—where's—" Cisco interrupted again, the clear direction of the villains unraveling on the screen. They all turned to the screen again. "He's heading for a school."

Iris gasped. "Not just any school. _Barry_ —"

"I'm on it."

In a flash of red, Barry was out of STAR Labs and en route to the school his kids attended.

…

"Barry, calm down. You're not going to be any good to your kids until we formulate a plan and you're able to keep your focus."

Barry kept pacing. He'd arrived at the school, intending to grab his kids and keep them hidden at STAR Labs until these new metahumans were captured, but neither of his children were present. The school itself was scarily silent. He half-expected it to be empty when he went inside, but it was as if nothing had happened.

 _Definitely speedsters._

It was then he realized too that there had been no robbery attempt at his kids' school. This was a deliberate kidnapping of the Flash's children. Two very dangerous new metahumans knew his identity, and planned to either use Don and Dawn as ransom or for a different, far more horrifying means.

"My _kids_ are _missing_ ," he fumed, but the panic was evident in his voice.

"They have their powers now, don't they?" Caitlin offered helplessly. "Maybe that will help them escape somehow."

Barry shook his head. "No. They would have prepared for that. These… _speedsters_ would have."

Caitlin frowned. "I don't understand."

He stopped and looked at her in frustration. "Don't you get it? They didn't rob the school. They were after my kids – the Flash's kids. Which means they had to at least guess they would have had their powers. They haven't called for a ransom, which they would have if that had been their reason. They obviously know who I am. What's the one thing that all evil speedsters have craved and were willing to get without caring about what it cost anyone else in the process?"

"More speed," Cisco said, his eyes glazing over.

Drowning in her silence, refusing to cave to panic since Barry had let himself succumb, Iris finally stood up and approached them all.

"He would've taken me if it was just for a ransom." She turned to look at Barry. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Barry swallowed hard, then pulled her to him, holding her tightly.

Silence descended. They all remembered when Iris had been kidnapped by a different metahuman – one currently being held in captivity. There had been a ransom then. Money. It had been a routine capture, except for the fact that Barry had nearly lost it with the edited audio that had been sent to them implying Iris's near-death.

Iris blinked and pulled away slightly.

"Do you think these speedsters are connected somehow? Maybe they found out about…"

"If they know about Don and Dawn being your kids," Caitlin ventured, "they have to know that you're married to Iris."

"It's logical," Cisco agreed. "She's a reporter. She's constantly covering stories about The Flash, and she got Barry's last name. Hyphenated, but still."

"Not to mention if they saw your engagement or wedding announcement in the paper from nine years ago."

"You just said it yourself though," Iris gestured to all of them. "There's been more than one evil mastermind craving the power of superspeed." She turned to Barry. "Was it…public knowledge that Zoom stole your speed?"

The anguish of that time in his life came rushing back. Barry stepped away from her. He ran his hand through his hair, starting to pace again.

"I don't know," he finally said. "But if they did…"

"It would've occurred to them that harnessing the power of two next generation speedsters who aren't even that resistant to give it up—"

Caitlin cut off Cisco's reasoning that was silently working up Barry further. She noticed too that Iris's strong resolve was starting to waver.

"I think they'd be pretty resistant to give something over to their kidnappers."

Barry stopped and clenched his jaw, tears starting to surface.

"They don't know how to…they can't…"

Cisco and Caitlin shared a confused look.

"What Barry is…t-trying to say," Iris swallowed, "is that…the twins haven't used their speed a lot. We told them not to because it might put them in danger. They don't…do it automatically. When it happens, it's because they're deliberately telling themselves to do it."

"They're only seven," Barry said. "We just wanted to wait a little until…" He shook his head and blinked away tears. "Is there any way we can track them?"

Caitlin turned back to the screens, analyzing for a moment before rejoining the team.

"There hasn't been any speedster movement recorded since you left, Barry. No robberies either. It's like…time stopped."

"Maybe it did," Cisco said, to which Caitlin frowned. "Check the source of this 'live' feed. Make sure it's actually running."

Five minutes later, a check up to the security cameras directly linked to the STAR Labs monitors proved, that it had been looped since Barry left. Ten minutes later, all of them had been fixed and running time showed on the monitors.

Barry stepped back to watch the screens intently.

"There's still no— _wait_."

A sudden breeze blew into the room. All of them turned to see the new speedster approaching them.

"Wally," Barry said, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Let me help," he said, foregoing the slightly offended feeling as to not being told what was going on immediately. "They're my niece and nephew, Barry," he said, not backing down when his brother-in-law appeared to be about to argue with him. "And from what…" He slanted a gaze at Iris. "From what I've heard, you've got two very dangerous new speedsters you're dealing with. Which means they already know what you seem to have forgotten."

Barry furrowed his eyebrows.

"Two is better than one."

Reluctantly, Barry nodded. The smallest of smiles, one of a burden being lifted, flitted across his face. Iris exhaled quietly in relief, some of the inward panic fleeing from her as well.

"Let's go find them."

...

 **A/N:** The reference to Iris getting kidnapped while pregnant is from another drabble prompt I got that I will probably also make a separate fic (a prequel to this one) once I get to it.


	2. Part 2

**A/N:** Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait, and thank-you for your patience. I had a lot going on in real life and then I was stuck in writer's block and lack of motivation. Part 2 is finally here though! And there will be a part 3, but it'll be much shorter and a sort of coda. Everything will be resolved by the end of this chapter. Enjoy!

 ***** HUGE thanks to **sendtherain** for beta'ing this chapter for me! You're a lifesaver, and I love you dearly.

 ***** I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

"What the _hell_ , Bear?" boomed from the corridor before Barry could so much as point Wally in the direction of the traffic monitors.

Frozen to his spot – as was everyone else – Barry's face paled and his heart dropped to his stomach.

"Joe?" he managed, his tongue feeling thick and heavy in his mouth. "What are you—?"

"What am I doing here?" Joe fumed, finally coming to a stop. "What am I _doing_ —my grandchildren are out there, and I have to rely on a secret text from Iris to find out what's going on?!"

Barry didn't glance at Iris. He knew she had done what he wouldn't have – gotten help from Wally, notified her father. He wasn't mad at her, and while Joe was very intimidating at the moment, it wasn't plain old rational fear of his father-in-law that had Barry losing the ability to think clearly.

"We were going to tell you—" Caitlin tried to soothe his temper.

Joe's eyes flashed to her. "Were you, _Doctor_ Snow?"

" _Dad_!" Iris silenced him.

Caitlin swallowed but her expression turned sad, an apologetic – _maybe_?

"Joe, we just—" Barry tried again. Joe was quick on his heels.

"I know I'm only human, _Flash_ , but so is Iris and so is Caitlin. I still have a gun and surveillance and—"

"They're speedsters, dad," Wally put in, effectively cutting off his father's rant.

Joe turned to him and for a moment said nothing, not even how he was already in full Kid Flash uniform.

"I know," he said finally.

Wally was rendered speechless, as were many of the others.

"What do you mean, you _know_?" Cisco's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

As far as they knew, no one outside STAR Labs had a clue that speedsters were the ones doing all the robbing, let alone that they'd kidnapped Barry and Iris's children. The media would be all over it if that was the case, and there hadn't been even a hint of a news story.

Joe sighed, reined in his temper, and thrust his hand into his pocket, pulling his phone out moments later.

"I know because of this."

He pressed the play icon on the screen and the video began.

…

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Barry whispered as he and Wally stealthily approached the abandoned warehouses the speedster villains had directed them to in the videos.

"It's the best we could come up with," Caitlin said honestly.

"It's a _good_ plan," Cisco insisted.

"So, just…go inside, pretend to give them what they want, and—"

" _Don't_ give it to them."

Iris said it matter-of-factly, but Barry heard the worried tone beneath the convincing confidence she had in him. _**Don't**_ _give up your speed._ _ **Don't**_ _leave our kids in the hands of speedsters. Come back with all four of you. Just_ _ **come back**_ _._

"We're going in," Wally said, effectively cutting off the conversation. They'd all gone through the plan excessively before leaving. Now on the scene, there was no need to do it again.

"Cisco?" Barry whispered just as he was about to enter the building.

"I've got eyes," Cisco assured him.

Barry shared a look with Wally, who gave him a quick nod and disappeared to the other side of the building. Barry took a deep breath, clenched and unclenched his hands to gather his strength, and entered the worn down abandoned building.

"Daddy!" cried out Dawn, and Barry zeroed in on her. He wanted nothing else in life than to zip out of there with his precious baby daughter, but there was something off about the way she was running towards him.

With a willful effort, he walked past the real-to-life image. A projection made from across the room. Once he was beyond it, he heard applause from the opposite end of the room.

"Well done, Flash," said a voice he remembered well from the video. "Some parents can't resist the call of their child."

Barry said nothing, still unseen by the obstacles in the room, and slowly inched toward the voice.

Another sound erupted. Another projection that bounced across the walls. Wails from his son, crying as if tortured. It took everything in him to not step out into the trap that no doubt awaited him in the clearing that led to the open space at the end of the building.

"Oh come on, Mr. Allen," the alluring, seductive voice emerged, though to him it was as unappealing and revolting as it had been on Joe's phone. "We want you, not your kids. Let's make this trade nice and easy. No one has to get hurt today."

Barry saw her shadow and knew she was getting closer. On the video, the speedsters had claimed their clear color meant they had other advanced senses – hearing, sight, mind-reading. He'd been sure they were bluffing, but he also had no means to believe otherwise.

"How do you expect to take my speed?" he vibrated his voice.

In an instant, the two speedsters sped in his direction, but not to his exact location – two aisles to the left. _So much for mind reading and heightened hearing._ Such things could have detected his exact location.

But while they were occupied, he sped to where they'd initially been and found his children bound in rope with tears in their eyes. He put a finger to his lips, but before he could take a step closer to untie them, he sensed the bat coming at his head and moved aside – out of sight.

"We're fast _too_ ," the male speedster informed him, clearly frustrated that Barry was no longer in sight.

"How did you get your speed?" Barry demanded, inching towards his twins again, though remaining still out of sight.

"Wouldn't you rather know how we found out about you?" the seductive voice asked.

Barry was silent.

The silence stretched on for several minutes before the two started to bicker about if Barry had actually left.

"Don't be stupid," the female voice snapped. "He wouldn't abandon his kids – _any_ kids to the two of us."

Amidst the frustration, Barry was able to slink back to his kids, but as soon as he touched the ropes, he was singed with electricity he hadn't felt since the night he'd been sucked into the speedforce nearly ten years prior.

"Daddy!" Dawn shrieked, so much more real than the projection of her had been earlier. The simultaneous _"Barry!"_ from Iris in his ear tripled the pain and the sense of failure coursing through him. Don stared on wide-eyed and then looked at his horrified sister.

"Ah. See, there you go." The female speedster approached him, grinning from ear to ear, hands placed confidently on her hips. "Told you he wasn't going anywhere." She looked over her shoulder at her comrade. "Tie him up."

The male speedster looked at the dominant female with a look of slight confusion. Her eyes shifted and she urged him to hurry it up. Communication on the subject would be saved for a later date.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded, spotting a figure on the far side of the room, but it was gone before she could speed to him. When she turned back around, he had her now unconscious comrade wrapped in the electric rope and tossed to the side.

The woman raised her eyebrows and briefly looked down at Wally's handiwork.

"Impressive," she said. "But your friend here is being zapped of his speed as we speak, and—"

Wally shoved her up against the wall, holding her in a chokehold.

"Let them go," he demanded.

She smiled and dragged a manicured nail lightly down his covered cheek.

He grabbed her hand and forced it against the wall.

"I am the only one who knows how to transfer that speed back into them. If you kill me, you'll never know how to undo what I've done to him. Not that I would tell you."

Wally was about to squeeze her throat tighter, put an end to her in the moment of his rage, but there was a light suddenly behind both of them that blinded them when they turned to look.

The twins. They were phasing. Phasing through the rope. In a blur of blinding white light.

The speeder entrapped in Wally's grip gasped at the sight.

"Impossible. We only gave them a small dose."

Wally turned back to her and blinked. "A small dose of _what_?"

But he never got his answer because two shots rang behind him. Tranquilizer darts, Wally guessed, because no blood began to spill out of his restrained criminal.

Wally turned around and saw Iris and Joe aiming their guns at the female speedster, then lowering them when they saw her go limp against Wally's hand and crumble to the ground.

"Mommy!"

"Paw-Paw!"

In moments, the twins were in Joe's and Iris's arms. Mere seconds after that, Iris was at Barry's side.

"Barry. _Barry_ ," she pleaded, aching for him to open his eyes and look at her. She turned to Wally and then to her dad.

"He's still in one piece," Joe said, silently reminding her that the last time electricity had coursed through him that hadn't been the case.

She swallowed, nodded, and breathed a sigh of relief when Barry breathed out an _"Iris"_ as she brought him to his feet with Wally's assistance.

Urging the kids to hold hands, Joe helped Iris with Barry while Wally sped the two unconscious speedsters to STAR Labs, immediately locking them inside the pipeline with a disgusted glare that stuck with him until Barry arrived at the cortex and was tended to as he fell back asleep.

…

" _Do you think this is a good idea?"_

" _The sooner we do it the better."_

" _But still, so soon after he got that jolt? We don't even know what kind of technology we're dealing with here, or if those speedsters know how to phase out of things – like the glass incubators they're in."_

" _I've upgraded the base surrounding their cubes and replaced the inner panels. All they'll be able to see when they wake up is a series of mirrors. Don't know how they can think to phase out of an infinity of mirrors – assuming they can phase at all."_

 _She sighed. "I suppose…"_

Barry's eyes blinked slowly open, the drowsy sleep he'd been in interrupted by the tense conversation going on nearby.

"Barry." Iris went to him immediately, running her fingers through his hair. "How do you feel?"

He tried to move his limbs and felt pain.

"Sore. What happened?"

"You got a bad jolt, my man." Cisco approached. "But Caitlin here is pretty sure she can fix you."

The brunette arrived beside him. "If you think you can handle one more jolt."

Barry took a deep breath and nodded.

"Only if you're sure," Iris put in, still on edge from the sight of Barry nearly unconscious on the floor of the warehouse, the sound of his scream an echo in her mind. It took her back to the time when he'd cried out tenfold of that and been sucked into oblivion.

He swallowed and lifted his hand gingerly for hers. She gently clasped it with her own and forced a smile.

"Okay."

Barry's gaze switched to Caitlin. "I'm ready."

Caitlin brought the syringe around and a reluctant Iris stepped a few feet away.

"I'm right here, Bear," she assured him as she let go of his hand.

"This will probably hurt," Caitlin warned, "But you'll have your speed back, and—"

Barry raised his head suddenly. "My _speed_? I lost my—"

Wanting to delay further explanations till after the fact, Caitlin plunged the syringe into Barry's chest and everyone watched as electricity ripped across his entire body. Iris held her breath until the lightning subsided and Barry breathed out in relief.

"How do you feel?" Caitlin asked cautiously.

Barry sat up slowly and looked around at everyone. Then he moved his limbs hesitantly but felt no pain at all. In a moment he was on the other side of the cortex, a quick red zap behind him and a wide grin on his face to everyone who watched him with jaws dropped and some with smiles mirroring his own.

"I feel great," he said. "Where are my babies?"

"They're—"

"Daddy!" the twins simultaneously cheered, coming to him in a dazzling white blur that subsided as soon as they were before him.

Barry's eyes widened. "Wow."

"Yeah…" Caitlin cleared her throat. "We have yet to figure that one out."

Barry shook his head in amazement and then took his kids in his arms, hugging them fiercely and kissing their faces, tears running down his cheeks.

"I'm so so glad you guys are okay."

Iris approached them and got on her knees beside them.

"I'm glad _you're_ okay," she said soothingly.

Barry turned to her, saw the remains of fear and worry and planted a kiss on her lips that had everyone on the other side of the room sharing swooning, grinning looks with each other.

"I'm okay, Iris," Barry murmured when they finally broke apart.

The twins looked puzzled and then hugged their parents again, making them all laugh with relief that the situation was over.

Barry stood to his feet and looked over at the rest of the team.

"I think…" he looked at his children and his wife briefly. "I think we're going to go home."

"As well you should. I'll take you," Joe informed him, not sticking around to argue that Barry could speed them there just as quickly.

"We'll analyze the ropes and serums we found at the warehouse some more and let you know what we find," Caitlin declared. "We were able to drain the rope of your speed by extracting it with the same syringe I used to put it back into you, but all this other stuff…"

Barry nodded; already weary of the implication behind the new discoveries.

"We had a close call. We can't have that again."

"We won't," Cisco assured him. "Now get outta here. You need some recuperation, despite your enthusiasm for speed," he joked.

Barry nodded and grinned, joining his family waiting in the hallway.

Cisco shared a concerned look with Caitlin after everyone else had left.

"What exactly are we dealing with here?" he asked.

Caitlin took a deep breath and rounded to the computers, where all the data that she'd understood was stored.

"I'm not sure, and I don't think interrogating our fellow speedsters will lead to anything but at least one of them escaping."

Cisco opened his mouth to argue, but Caitlin turned to him with a smile before he could.

"Despite your masterpiece."

Cisco digested her doubt of his mirror-effect containment and then brushed it aside to sit beside her.

"Ok. So, what exactly are we— _whoa_." His eyes widened when he took in the information on her screen. "Is that what I think it is?"

Caitlin nodded.

"There's something out there, a serum of some sort that can create the effect of a speedster. And as far as it's been tested by these two – for months it looks like – it doesn't kill you. What's worse…"

"It's being sold."

Caitlin clicked on a file at the bottom the screen and an endless list of sketchy individuals spread out before them.

"This was found on the computers of our conniving speedsters."

"Bidders." Cisco swallowed hard.

"On the black market."

…

 **A/N:** Duh-duh-duuuuuh! Lol. A cliffy that I'm sorry to say will not be resolved here. I leave it up to your imagination to see what comes next. ;) Stay tuned for the coda. It'll be a sweet one.


	3. Coda

**A/N:** It is finally here. As mentioned at the end of chapter two, this last part will not touch on the cliffy I left hanging open. Since the purpose of this fic was to rescue the twins and I did that, the only things being wrapped up in this chapter are regarding the aftermath of that specific plot. It's always possible I'll write a sequel to this sometime in the future – since I do have a prequel in mind. However, nothing is planned at the moment. You'll just have to use your imagination. ;)

 ***** Big thanks once again to the lovely **sendtherain** who puts up with me and beta'd this so flawlessly! I love you, dear. Always.

 ***** I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

It was late afternoon approaching almost sunset when Iris's eyes fluttered open and she took in the scene before her with a lazy smile.

Barry, his head propped sideways into the palm of his hand, sat in the corner of the couch kitty-corner to her recliner. Dawn was stretched across his lap, her head nestled toward his torso. With a quiet murmur from her, Barry unknowingly let her drag his other hand around her back. He pulled her closer when she visibly shivered.

Still dead to the world, Don softly snored against Iris's smaller frame. Her eyes set on him and carefully, she grabbed the haphazardly dropped blanket at her feet and covered both of them with it. Her fingers grazed his cheeks, in awe of the softness of them, trying not to replay the horror of the day that by some miracle had not corrupted her much needed afternoon nap.

The Allen family, courtesy of Joe West, had returned home after the day's terrifying excitement and decided a movie night – complete with popcorn and ice-cream – was the way to go. Always a fan of The Little Mermaid – Don insisted it was because of how cool the "triton" was – Barry put the movie in. Before the first half hour was up, all the residents of the household were sound asleep.

A quiet moan sounded from the vicinity of Barry and Dawn. Iris looked up and found their daughter still asleep, but her husband looking at her with all the love in the world – as if _she_ had been the one that was kidnapped or almost killed in the attempt to gain back their children.

She couldn't believe how close she'd been to losing him. A part of her wanted to just lose herself in him the rest of the night, but the other part of her never wanted to release her children to anyone but herself and Barry. Everyone felt so fragile to her now. And while Barry had been at the mercy of unknown dangers before, their children never had. She didn't want to think about it now, but she knew it wouldn't be the last time.

"Hey," he whispered when he saw her eyes start to wander.

Barry knew her well enough to see the thoughts flickering behind those deep brown eyes. The afternoon had been nice – no matter that they'd been sleeping for most of it – but there was no denying the frightening events of the day. He didn't want the sadness to return to Iris's eyes. She was strong, but he'd seen the fear in her facial expressions and heard the dread in her voice. This one would sit with her for a while, as it would with him and everyone else.

Iris offered a soft smile in response, but her eyes filled with tears as they traveled over her husband and children.

Taking their children's tendency to be tremendously deep sleepers into the equation, Barry used his speed to bring Iris and Don to the couch he'd been sitting on without waking up either seven-year-old.

Iris took a breath when she found herself pressed against Barry's side with both their children laying still fast asleep across their laps. She turned to look at Barry with his lazy smug grin. Since her arms were trapped by her children's limbs, she whispered, "C'mere."

Barry leaned his head towards hers and captured her lips in the sweetest of kisses before pulling away just enough to rest his forehead against hers.

"Not enough, Bear," she murmured.

So he kissed her again, this time with a little more heat, but not enough to disperse from their children and reconvene in the bedroom.

Iris laid her head on his shoulder after he pulled away a second time. She felt delicious, happy shivers come to life all over her skin when he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Today was scary," she whispered in a sigh.

Barry swallowed.

"Yeah."

"Any chance that might happen again?"

Barry didn't answer, which was for the best. She didn't want to hear _yes_ , because that was too much right now. She wouldn't want to hear _maybe_ or _no_ though because those were lies and she detested secrets, even when they soothed a delicate heart.

"I'm glad Wally showed up," she said to fill the silence.

Barry nodded. "Yeah. Me too."

Iris parted her lips, then hesitated.

"What?" he asked, not even turning his head. "Iris?" He did turn his head now, worry creasing his face. He searched hers, trying to meet her eyes she wouldn't lift to him.

Finally she sighed and swallowed, bracing herself for his reaction.

"I think… I think Wally almost killed her."

Barry's eyes widened abruptly. He choked out a " _what_?"

Iris shot him a warning glance, silently reminding him not to raise his voice or move too quickly, even with his children being such heavy sleepers.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a whisper, calmer now.

"I didn't see all of it," she admitted. "But when we came in, you were knocked out and tied up on the ground. The woman speedster was pinned to the wall with Wally's hand around her throat." She turned to look at him. "He wasn't just holding her there, Barry. He was squeezing tighter. I could _feel_ how angry he was." She took a breath. "I'm just glad we got there when we did and had those tranquilizer darts at the ready."

Barry sunk into the couch. "Yeah, me too." He ran his free hand through his hair, tousling it thoroughly.

"I'm sure he'll be okay," she said when his nerves didn't immediately recede. She paused. "But maybe you should talk to him."

Barry started nodding, and way too fast. "Yes, I should. I should definitely—"

Iris pulled her hand free and forced her husband back against the couch when he apparently forgot his children and nearly lurched to his feet.

" _Tomorrow_ ," she said.

He turned to look at her, frowning.

"You're on edge, Bear." He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued before he could form words. "He's not going dark. He just got very protective of his family – of _you_. But he does need to be told not to cross that line, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what he feels in the heat of the moment. And it can't come from me."

"Why not? He trusts you. And he almost always takes your advice to heart."

"I'm not the one he put his neck on the line for today, though. From what we heard on the com, he didn't snap until _you_ were out."

He took a deep breath, nodded, and slowly his heart rate returned to normal.

"What do I say to him?"

She laughed and then quickly closed her mouth. Barry didn't seem to take notice.

"Barry," she responded as the moment passed. "You're the only person I know who thinks they have no idea what to say, but in the moment says exactly what needs to be said." She turned to look at him and smiled encouragingly. "Just let it come, Bear. Put your heart on your sleeve as you always do, and just…try not to get too excited."

He smiled.

"Don't get excited. Got it."

There was a twinkle in his eyes that reflected in her own, but it faded from hers and as a result from him.

"Can the kids sleep with us tonight?" she asked, timid, as if he'd say no.

He gave her the softest, sweetest, most gentle of smiles.

"And here I was thinking you might reject that same suggestion."

He leaned forward and nuzzled his face against hers. He found her lips and then traveled with his own to her jaw and her neck before meeting her eyes again.

"I'm not going to be without any of you tonight," he assured her.

She laid her head back on his shoulder and let herself sink back into sleep.

…

As Iris had predicted, when Barry met up with Wally the next day, all jitters had disappeared. A good night's sleep had probably had something to do with that. It wasn't something either of them expected to get, given the nightmare the day had been, but something about all four of them being huddled in a bed together must have kept those hellish dreams and restlessness at bay.

"Hey Barry," Wally said, opening the door to the rooftop at Jitters. "Why'd you want to meet here? Isn't this…yours and Iris's place?"

Barry smiled a little at the comment and approached him.

"Yeah," he agreed. "But, it also happens to be the place you thanked me for saving your life."

Wally's eyes widened slightly. "Oh wow, yeah. Yeah, I guess it is."

"I thought I'd return the favor," Barry said seriously.

Wally shook his head. "No. No, you don't need to do that. We're family. And you're…you're so much more than that to me even. You're my _mentor_ —and your kids are my niece and nephew. There was no way I wasn't going to—"

"Iris told me you almost killed one of them," Barry said, effectively cutting short Wally's humble dismissal. The silence that descended told Barry to take action. "Look, Wally, I appreciate what you did for me, for all of us yesterday, but…"

"I wasn't going to kill her," Wally cut in.

Barry waited.

Wally sighed. "I wanted to. I wanted to a _lot_. But would I have?"

He shook his head, but Barry could see the wheels turning. He saw the thoughts that spread out behind those eyes, just as he could with Iris – _I couldn't if I wanted to. I'm not that guy. I'm not capable._ The fact that none of those words were vocalized made Barry glad Iris had talked him into this.

He wrapped an arm around Wally's shoulders and started to pull him across the rooftop till they reached a clear view of the city.

"Listen, Wally, it's our job to keep this city safe. Without us, Central City is defenseless against metahumans. Even the impeccable CCPD doesn't stand a chance. So, if we're not here, the city has no one. If I'd been killed and you committed an unnecessary murder on my behalf…" He stopped moving and turned Wally towards him, his hand gripping Wally's shoulder. "No matter how evil the villain is, if they die, it is not by our hands. We protect this city – and each other – by saving the innocent, not by killing the guilty."

"I was just so…so mad." He looked up at Barry. "I never thought I could be that mad about anyone that wasn't my mom. And then after a while, someone who wasn't Joe or Iris. I've never even been that mad defending the everyday citizen. I wasn't even with the twins, but when they completely just defeated you, the invincible _Flash_ …"

"I'm not invincible, Wally. And this isn't the first time it's been proven."

Wally nodded. "Yeah, I know, but..."

"Don't put me on pedestal. We're all on the same level here."

Wally looked away, shaking his head. Before Barry could try to think of a better way to word what he was trying to say, Wally was facing him again. There was a determination in his eyes that barely guarded the vulnerability that lie beneath.

"None of us would be here without you, Barry. We wouldn't be who we are if you weren't in our life."

"Wally—"

"I understand what you're saying, Barry. It's not okay to kill, no matter who it is. I get that, and I will try to always remember that, even in the heat of the moment."

"But?"

Wally closed some of the distance between them.

"I just need you to know that I would lay down my life for you. Any of us would. Those speedsters didn't even give me a chance."

The words shook Barry to his core. His eyes misted with tears, but he gripped Wally's shoulder again and reminded himself to be strong.

"I hope you never have to make that kind of a choice, Wally. We all need you just as much."

There was still a fight in Wally, still the urge to argue for Barry's significance.

" _I_ need you just as much," he said, nodding to relax Wally's ferocity. "I've never had a speedster I could trust before you. Now I do."

 _Thank you_ was spelled out in the looks, nods and hesitant smiles between them.

Finally, Barry wrapped an arm around Wally's back and led him back to the rooftop door.

"C'mon, it's movie night at Cisco's. Everybody's waiting."

"Sure." Wally smiled. "What are we watching?"

"Oh, did I forgot to mention?" Barry feigned ignorance. "You're the babysitter."

"Wha—"

Barry just laughed and sped off moments before they reached the door.

"Uncle Wally!" Dawn and Don cheered when he flew past Cisco at the open door only moments after Barry.

An amused Barry snaked an arm around Iris and kissed the side of her face.

"All good, babe?" she asked her husband, her twinkling eyes on Wally and their children.

Barry directed his gaze to hers and found Wally scooping up his kids and joking animatedly with them.

"Yeah," he said, more content now than he'd been for over 48 hours. "We're good."

…

 **A/N:** I realize Wally isn't overly affectionate of Barry on the show just yet, but I hope you were able to take into consideration that this fic takes place ten years into the future. And as Wally implies, Barry mentored him when he got his speed. Also, I am first and foremost a Barry stan, so I'm sure my insane love for him spilled over into this.

Thank-you for reading! Happy reviews are love.


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